Passive exercise machines have been used over a number of years to provide exercise and weight loss for the user. Such mechanical devices comprise components and attachments which move various parts of the body such as arms, shoulders, hips and legs individually or collectively, to tone up muscles and to breakdown fat tissues.
The prior art includes a passive exerciser described in the next three paragraphs:
The machine comprises a series of cushions or pads for different parts of the body and these pads move with respect to each other in a predetermined manner. The patient lies on his or her back while these pads move. There is a head pad at the forward end of the machine, on which the patient's head is placed. The head pad is stationary. There are two shoulder pads for supporting the patient's two shoulders respectively. The shoulder pads move with a teeter-totter motion (an out of phase mode), i.e. when the front end of the left shoulder pad goes up, the front end of the right shoulder pad goes down. There are two buttock pads, on which the patient's right buttock and left buttock respectively, rest. The two buttock pads move with an oscillating motion caused by eccentric drives from a motor. The teeter-totter motion of the shoulder pads is at a faster rate than the oscillating motion of the buttock pads.
There are two foot pads, for the right foot and the left foot respectively. These two pads operate in an out-of-phase rocking motion.
The shoulder, buttock and hip pads are controlled by a timing device which provides five different operating modes.
As the shoulder, buttock and foot pads move individually and/or collectively, the patient with hands over head, holds onto a reciprocating arm, so that the patient will experience a stretching and loosening motion as the reciprocating arm moves back and forth.